Roman Catholic bishops in the Philippines will join in a “walk for life” later this month in a step designed to show their indignation over drug-related killings in the country.
UCAnews reports that Archbishop Socrates Villegas of Lingayen-Dagupan, president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines, urged Catholics to find the “courage” to join in the walk in a statement released this week.
He said it was not God’s will that “blood be shed on [the] streets” which “must be safe, should be secure”.
It’s estimated that more than 7,000 people have been killed since Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte launched a war on drugs after coming to power in June last year. The national police force reportedly put the figure much lower at more than 2,500 but say that more than 3,000 deaths are under investigation.
The walk for life, which is being organised by will take place on 18th February.
On 30th January, the Catholic bishops’ conference issued a statement in which it said stopping the traffic in illegal drugs “does not lie in the killing of suspected drug users and pushers”. They said a “reign of terror” now existed in many places where the poor lived.
“Many are killed not because of drugs,” they wrote. “Those who kill them are not brought to account. An even greater cause of concern is the indifference of many to this kind of wrong. It is considered as normal, and, even worse, something that (according to them) needs to be done.”
The church leaders said they will continue to speak out “against evil” even if it brings persecution upon them.
